


just beneath the surface

by sickly



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Frat Parties, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Tags to be added, Too much cursing, did i mention cursing, siblings damien and mary!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-11 04:25:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11706780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sickly/pseuds/sickly
Summary: Damien is a freshman in college, Robert and Mary are best friends, everyone is just trying to graduate without a hangover, and Craig won't take those damn sunglasses off of that damn dog.or, The College AU nobody asked for.





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> wow HECKIN hello and welcome to whatever this monstrosity will turn out to be. 
> 
> in this, mary and damien are siblings bc that's my fave headcanon <3
> 
> also, my thing in fics (which are actually all deleted now wow) is that i always have a song or playlist for them, and since this is my first chaptered fic, there might be multiple songs. my fave band rn is dawes, so expect a loooooot of that.
> 
> my favorite song right now and the one i am sure will be the General song for this fic is called "someone will" by dawes. take a listen if you will. 
> 
> enjoy!!!!!
> 
> edit: look at [this](http://rokorou.tumblr.com/post/164228793541/damien-melts-he-absolutely-melts-from) amazing great fantasic show stopping art rob made for chapter 3....what heck

Laptop, check. Hairties, check. Favorite binder, check. Fear of frat boys and mono? Definitely in _one_ of the bags.

Damien triple checks his belongings and makes sure he isn't leaving behind anything too important. He’s about to zip up his duffel bag before he catches a glimpse of the picture frame on his nightstand, his favorite photo of him and Mary, and he places it in with his other things.

“Mary?” he calls once he's sure he has everything. He's definitely still scared, petrified even, but he’s got a few ounces of confidence ready to help him tackle whatever is waiting for him on that damned campus.

Mary pops her head in his bedroom door and looks at him with excited eyes and a smile plastered on her face. “You ready, Dames?” she asks and Damien isn't sure of the last time he saw her this excited.

Damien musters a smile of his own and nods his head to her. Her smile grows, and Damien can't help but brush at least some of the tension from his shoulders. He trusts Mary, is the thing. There hasn't been a day where he doesn't, and if she can't sense any oncoming terrors, then there's no reason for him to.

It's just _college_ after all. All Damien has to do is stick to his studies, make a few close friends, stay by Mary’s side, and keep his cool. In four years, it'll all be over, he'll have discovered his self-identity, and he'll be ready for the world of Adulting and Taxes.

Damien shouldn't be nervous, and until he has a real reason to not be, he's going to pretend he isn't.

Mary helps Damien with his things and they set off in the rickety old Volkswagen she bought off the side of the street his senior year to his new home for the next four years. Damien makes acquaintances with the lines on the road the entire drive up there, zoning in and out of all the things Mary is saying about their college.

He catches “killer parties,” “really cute professors,” and “my future boyfriend, Joseph Christiansen.”

“Well, I’m trying,” she told him, chuckling to herself. “I want to kiss the hell out of him – the…heaven out of him? – but not in his good Christian suburbs. Not yet, at least.”

After two and a half hours, two stops to 7-Eleven and three Slurpee’s later, they finally arrive at their school. The campus is huge; dorm buildings crowd around it and the entire surrounding area is nothing but school buildings, coffee shops, and housing apartments. It becomes abundantly clear that, if Damien ever wants to escape school and everything to do with it, he’s going to have to walk at least two miles in any direction.

“It’s…big,” Damien says as Mary pulls into the loading dock where all the other poor, unsuspecting freshmen are unloading their parent’s SUV’s of shower caddies and foldable lounge chairs. “My shower caddy!” he says suddenly when he remembers that he did indeed forget one important thing.

Mary laughs from outside of the car where she’s already getting Damien’s things for him. “You don’t need one, don’t worry, Dames,” she says and slams the trunk, putting his last bag on the curb as Damien finally exits the car. “No more being scared, okay? I’m here. Don’t forget that.”

Damien lets out a deep breath. That’s the one thing he won’t forget, the one thing he _can’t_ forget. He gives Mary a knowing smile, which she returns. “I promise, I’ll be okay,” he tells her. He’s not quite sure if it’s a promise he can keep, but he’ll try his damned hardest.

“Good. Now go unpack and meet me back in the quad. There’s a lot I’ve got to show you, sweet brother o’ mine,” Mary says excitedly and pats Damien’s back to send him on his way. He lugs his bags all the way to his dorm, room 208, to find that his roommate has already settled in nicely. His side of the room pales in comparison to the other, walls covered in band posters and a string of dim lights line the crease of the ceiling and the walls. There’s even a guitar leaning against the foot  of the bed.

Damien sets his bags down on his bed and he inspects the dorm room. It’s sizeable, definitely enough moving room. He notices a door on the wall next to the entrance just as he hears loud, boisterous laughter and a figure comes tumbling through it, saying something like, “Hide that damn dog before Hugo finds out!”

“Hey!” the guy greets happily when he sees Damien. Damien looks at him shyly, barely offering a smile as he waves slowly. “You must be Damien! I’m Mat.”

Damien extends his hand for a handshake, but he’s pulled into what he can only call a “bro-hug.” He lets out a small _oof_ and awkwardly hugs Mat back. “Hello, yes, I’m Damien,” he says, muffled by Mat’s shoulder. He’s finally let go and he steps back to his bed.

“You’re my lucky roommate,” Mat tells Damien as he hops onto his bed and smiles warmly at him.

“That’s presumptuous,” Damien says, immediately groaning internally. He doesn’t want to come off as _rude_ already. But Mat just laughs some more and shakes his head.

“Well, lucky for a few reasons. One, because I’m pretty damn great. Two, because your sister is pretty damn great and pulled some strings so that you’ve got this kickin’ joint dorm with me and two of my buds. You know what joint dorms mean? Private bathrooms and no shower shoes.”

Damien perks up at this. Mary definitely didn’t mention this and it’s a great, pleasant surprise. It’s actually enough to kick start a good mood for the day. “Or caddies?”

Mat laughs again. It’s not a bad sound, actually. “Or caddies.”

Damien lets out his own laugh and sits down on his bare bed. He doesn’t know what else to say for a moment before – “Wait, you know my sister?”

“Mary?” Mat says. “Hell yeah. I feel bad for those of us that don’t, but she’s a simple girl. Probably doesn’t want that many friends, so I consider _myself_ lucky.”

Damien’s lips turn up a little because yeah, Mary is the best person he knows and the best person he’ll probably ever know. He’s forever grateful that she’s his sibling and willingly decides to wake up and actually care about him. Damien doesn’t know where he’d be without her.

Damien goes to say something to Mat, but he hears what’s _clearly_ a bark, followed by, “Damn it, Craig! Stop teasing him!”

“Shit, I gotta go help them. But it was awesome meeting you!” Mat says before he’s barreling back into the adjacent room he came from. Damien sighs. He’s definitely not going to get mixed up in that. At least not yet. One look from whatever dog is in the other room, and he’ll be trapped. That he’s sure of.

Damien finally unpacks to the sounds of the ruckus coming from the other room. He decorates his side of the room to the best of his ability, but it still somehow seems – plain. Boring. He figures there’s not much he can do about it now. Maybe he’ll get a few posters or paintings to hang up, but until then, he sets the frame picture of him and Mary on his nightstand. He smiles at it fondly before his eyes trail to look out the window to the quad where he sees Mary shamelessly grasping the bicep of some blond in a pink polo. He’s standing at a booth amongst many others and the banner on it reads _Christian Club! (Free brownies!!!)._

Ah, Joseph Christiansen. If anyone is going to save his poor soul in this very moment, it’s going to be Damien.

-

Damien goes down to the quad to meet Mary who is, of course, still chatting up Joseph and munching on a brownie. He thinks maybe that’s all she’s in it for, but then he sees her genuine smile and the crinkles by her eyes as Joseph tells a joke and thinks maybe, just maybe, she might actually like this guy.

“Dames!” Mary says happily when she sees her brother and waves him over. Damien strides over and offers a wave to Joseph who gives him his hand in return. His handshake is firm and warm, even.

“Hey, I’m Joseph,” he introduces himself. Damien stops himself from going _I totally know who you are._

“Joseph, this is my brother, Damien,” Mary says and smiles widely between the two of them.

 _Christ_ , she’s smitten, isn’t she? Among his studies, Damien makes it a plan to help Mary actually kiss this guy by the end of the year.

“You wouldn’t happen to be interested in joining the Christian Club, would you Damien?” Joseph asks him politely. “I’m club president three years running. And since you’re Mary’s brother, I can see what I can do to slide your extra sweets here and there.” He leans in close to Damien and whispers, “I’m VP of the Baking Club. You can count on me for all your sugary needs.”

Damien smells the mint on his breath and can tell why Mary wants to get her lips on his so bad. He politely shakes his head, though, and smiles at Joseph. “I’ll kindly decline, thank you, though. I don’t know if I’ll be joining any clubs anyways.”

Joseph pouts (can he get _any_ cuter?), but he nods, understanding. “That’s a shame, but I guess clubs aren’t for everyone. If you change your mind, ask Mary for me, okay?”

This makes Mary beam and she nods before she links her arm with Damien’s. “Well, Joseph, I’ve had a lovely time chatting with ya, but I promised Damien a grand tour. Still on for coffee tomorrow?”

After Joseph agrees and Mary blows him a goodbye kiss, they set off to venture the rest of the quad. Damien’s been only slightly overwhelmed so far, but in a good way. Finding out he doesn’t need to use shower shoes and his roommates are harboring a fugitive puppy was a crazy, yet pleasant surprise, but he doesn’t feel like he’s going to collapse. Not yet.

Mary saunters around the quad with Damien and he sees the various booths for the clubs that are set up. There are a lot, actually, too many for him to remember, but one did stand out. The LGBT Alliance booth where he met a kid named Pablo for all of thirty seconds. But he was nice, and Damien considers resigning his comment to Joseph about not joining a club.

Damien sees all of the quad, the campus cafeteria and cafes, the main library, and a few other locations he might need to know so he doesn’t get lost and die on his first day of class. Mary is even kind enough to show him where said classes are. Damien’s gratefulness for his sister grows immensely, as if it wasn’t already to the brim.

When Damien confronts her about the dorm room, she shrugs it off and says not to worry about it before telling him all about Mat and his awesome music. Then she mentions Craig (“Keg stand Craig, that absolute hero.”) and Mason, his other two roommates, all of them juniors.  She says there are a few more people she wants him to meet, but they’re not quite around yet.

Finally, after a tiring tour around the hotspots of the campus, the two of them return to the quad. Damien takes note of the guys playing ultimate Frisbee as the guys to avoid forever, the obvious stoners sitting under a tree and the rest of the “cliques” he might run into. This is the college he sees in movies, so it may not be perfect, but it might definitely be fun.

Mary is talking Damien’s ear off about a class she’s taking this year that she’s sure is going to kick her ass when Damien sees something – or _someone –_  that makes the world around him slow down, also  just like in those _damn_ movies.

He sees him sitting on a ledge by the main entrance smoking a cigarette (to the dismay of a few surrounding students). His hooded eyes and leather jacket scream _brooding_ and his jaw is defined and covered in stubble. He has remarkably tan skin, dark and gorgeous, and the red shirt he’s wearing contrasts with it beautifully. He is _beautiful_. Damien watches his lips blow out a cloud of smoke and his heart skips a bit when he sees him smirk and nod to a passing friend.

Damien is staring, very obviously, and he _swears_ he can hear Careless Whisper’s sax solo somewhere off in the distance as he does so. Mary is still talking in the background, but Damien isn’t paying attention, so he doesn’t notice when she stops talking all together just as Mr. Brooding looks right at him.

Holy shit, he’s _looking_. He caught Damien staring, he caught him staring and fuck, oh _fuck_ , is he waving? He’s waving at Damien and he can hear the blood rushing to his head as he sheepishly tucks a strand of hair behind his ear to pass off his wave back that way, but shit. Does he look okay? Is his hair okay? The black tee he’s wearing isn’t wrinkled and he doesn’t have any stains on his pants and he’s almost certain he’s wearing matching socks but why does it _matter._ The man can’t see his socks, but maybe he can sense if they’re mismatched and _holy fucking shit, he’s walking towards Damien._

Damien doesn’t know whether to panic or smile charmingly so he goes for a mix of both, giving a quivering smile just as – “Hey, Mary!”

Mary. He was – he was waving at _Mary_.

“Hey, Smalls!”

Fuck. Damien flushes, his pale skin probably outing his embarrassment to the entire damn world.

When the guy finally gets to them, Mary gives him a hug and plants a kiss on his cheek. “Damien, this is the best person you’re _ever_ going to meet. Robert, this is my brother, Damien, the best person _you’re_ ever going to meet.”

Damien feels a rock in his throat when he goes to say hello. He feels like a fish out of water, a fish in the desert, a fish _dying_.

Before he can figure out how to even speak again, Robert just gives him the same damn smirk from earlier and stuffs a hand in his pocket. “Hey, Mary’s told me about you,” he says, and that’s it. That’s all he says to Damien before he starts a brand new conversation with Mary. He isn’t as short with her and he smiles even more than before and, for once in his life, Damien is jealous of his sister.

Damien stands there awkwardly while Mary catches up with Robert, talking about their summers and their classes for the semester.

“Yeah, Damien here has Mr. Spitz for English 101,” Mary is saying, catching Damien’s attention again and he hears Robert let out a short, but oh so pleasant chuckle.

“Sit in the back,” Robert says and Damien feels the heat back in his cheeks. Just from Robert _speaking_ to him.

“Uh, does he spit?” he asks carefully, finally finding his voice, despite it being a little shaky.

Robert, though, laughs again and looks to Mary who is giving a giggle of her own. She shakes her head and puts a hand on shoulder. “Gassy.”

Robert laughs again and if that isn’t music to Damien’s ears, he doesn’t know what is. He thinks he hears Careless Whisper start up again.

After a few beats of silence among them, Damien hears a chirp come from Robert’s pants. He watches him pull out his phone and check it before groaning. “Brian’s here,” he tells Mary. “He brought his fancy fifty-inch that is definitely not going to fit in his dorm and wants me to help him set it up.”

“Always has to have the best, huh?”

“Wanna come help?” Robert asks her.

Mary looks at Robert, then to Damien as she gives him a small smile. “You going to be okay if I go with?”

Damien appreciates her sentiment wholeheartedly, but it scares him to know that he might not be. He doesn’t want to think of the three years from now where she’ll have graduated and he’ll have to tackle a year alone. But, he figures he’ll have grown accustom to the college life. He’ll have made friends and he should be okay by then. He’s just worried for this year. Mary has been his guard his entire life, has shielded him from all the bad he would have faced if she wasn’t. Damien has to keep some faith though, so he smiles at Mary and nods his head.

“Yeah, I presume so,” he tells her and she smiles sweetly at him.

“Call me if you need anything or if you want me to kick someone’s ass. Smalls and I will deal with whoever fucks with you,” she guarantees him, and they share a laugh.

After a hug and a wave goodbye, Damien watches the two of them go off to one of the other dorm buildings. In the distance, he sees Mat and who he presumes to be Craig and Mason carrying a dog shaped fluff ball with sunglasses and a baseball hat on talking to a few other people who are laughing over the little pup disguise.

He sees the clubs clearing out their booths and Joseph giving out the last of his brownies while two big guys are walking a huge TV across the quad to the dorm building he sees Robert and Mary walk into.

Today’s been…a lot for Damien. He was doing pretty well, honestly, up until the entire debacle with Robert. He was certain that he wasn’t going to collapse into his bed at the end of the day and sigh into the next week, but remembering how he embarrassed himself…remembering Robert and his laugh, his smile.

Damien thinks maybe collapsing is the only appropriate response to a day like today.


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damien tries his best to survive his first college party, complete with keg stands and pineapple pizza.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "when the tequila runs out" by dawes
> 
> warnings: alcohol
> 
> something i didn't mention before: THANK YOU AUTUMN.
> 
> enjoy!

Damien wakes up to a loud knock on his door. His brain shorts for a moment and he half expects someone else to open the door so he can continue sleeping, but when he cracks an eye open, there’s nobody on the bed across from his.

He finally opens both eyes and notices that, indeed, he is alone and he should probably answer the door. Just as he tells himself to get up, there’s another knock and he groans sleepily. “One moment please,” he calls out with a scratchy voice before finally getting to the door and opening it. On the other side is a tall student with a bow tie on, his hair pulled back into a bun, and a stack of whiteboards in his arms. Damien takes short note that this is the guy he’ll have to battle for the Best Hair title.

“Good morning,” the other person says a bit too happily for this early in the morning. “Or, good noon. It’s noon.”

Okay, so maybe not _that_ early. Damien manages a small, sleepy smile and nods his head to him.

“I’m Hugo, I’m an RA, so I figured I’d make my rounds to welcome the new people in the building,” he introduces himself with a kind smile and Damien feels the warmth of it. This Hugo doesn’t seem too bad, besides waking him up, but it’s not his fault. Damien won’t hold it against him this time. “I’m also a TA for one of the history classes, so if you have Professor Hill, I might catch you there.”

Damien’s groggy mind tries to run back and remember whether or not he does have Professor Hill, and when he remembers that he does, he perks up a little bit. “As a matter of fact, I do,” he tells him, and Hugo smiles even more.

“Awesome, hopefully you’re in my class then,” Hugo says. He looks down at his stack of whiteboards before he hands one to Damien. “This is for your door. I know Mat is going to need at least three quarters of it for his doodles and weird jokes, but you can gladly decorate the remaining portion all you want.”

Damien chuckles a bit and takes a marker from Hugo. “Thank you,” he says and smiles back at him a bit more genuinely.

“I’m going to leave you be now. I hope you have fun in the coolest building here,” says Hugo.

Damien bids him adieu and lets him go on his way before placing the whiteboard on Mat’s bed and finally returning to his own. He looks at his phone where it lies charging on the nightstand. He illuminates the lock screen to see an onslaught of texts from Mary, which he immediately checks.

The first was in the early morning about how her supposed “coffee date” with Joseph went and then a few more on whether or not Damien wanted to do something that day. The last one, though, was _BACK TO SCHOOL_ _PARTY TONIGHT!!!_ followed by various emojis.

Damien stares at the text quizzically because he isn’t quite sure how the idea of a party sounds. The thought makes him a bit nervous and he thinks his stomach churns a bit at the thought. It’s only his second day there and he’s still trying to settle in, so a party where there will be liquor and probably various types of sex sounds intimidating. But, as he’s thinking, another text comes through from Mary.

_robert and a bunch of the guys are gonna b there!!!! u should come with, or else it’s gonna suck <3 _

Damien sighs heavily. As much as part of him is wary of going, he’s also slightly excited, and it’s definitely not because of Robert. (Or, maybe it is, because he can _redeem_ himself from the previous day’s mishap, and that’s definitely the only reason why.) Classes don’t start until the following week so he figures that he should squeeze a bit of fun in before he can’t anymore.

He texts Mary his confirmation of agreement and she sends back more heart emojis and one smiley.

Begrudgingly, Damien decides to shower before he spends the next hour or so figuring out which black shirt and which black pair of jeans would be best for the night.

Ultimately, he actually goes with neither, and chooses a white shirt with ruffles down the middle tucked into black trousers.  They only scream a portion of personality, but he doesn’t think going all out would be the best for tonight. It’s a good outfit, though, great for a party. He’s satisfied. He doesn’t realize the time he’s spending on his hair or the fact that he’s thinking of Robert as he does it. Damien shakes his head to himself before he finally picks his phone up and calls Mary.

“Hey,” Mary answers happily after the second ring. “I’m so glad you agreed to come tonight! There’s going to be a lot of cool people there, including yours truly. It’ll help you make _friendssss_ ,” she drawls out in a sing song voice.

Damien can’t help but laugh. “Is this just a networking event for me?” he asks.

“Please,” Mary scoffs. “Would I ever put you through something like that?”

“Yes.”

Mary huffs. “Okay, maybe. But they’re all my friends and they’re all amazing,” she guarantees him and Damien puts his faith in her. He believes her, believes that she’d never sway him in the wrong direction. Damien trusts Mary.

“When are we going?” he asks her.

“Robert and I are going to go out of town for some _really_ good pizza to take tonight,” Mary starts. “It’s the only place Robert trusts to make his good pineapple pizza. So, we’ll get those and then come to pick you up. Sound good?”

For the most part, yes. Damien ignores the little flip his heart does when he finds out that Robert loves pineapple on pizza, just like him. He knows Mary _hates_ it, so to know someone else who actually does enjoy it brings a bit of joy to him. “Sounds good,” Damien confirms before they say their goodbyes. He sits around for a while before he decides to go pick up his books for the semester. He passes the time, organizes his side of the room, and waits around for a call from Mary.

When it finally comes, the sun has set and it’s close to nine o’clock. He meets her at their Volkswagen, and his heart does the _thing_ again when he sees Robert in the driver seat as he slides into the back next to a stack of pizza boxes.

“Dames, meet your designated driver for the evening,” Mary says and motions to Robert with a laugh while he just rolls his eyes light heartedly. “Sweet Robert has agreed to stick to one drink tonight and will be waiting on you if you decide to leave before I do.”

Damien has to contain the smile that threatens his lips. His plan for redemption may actually get to take place, or he could do an even worse job that yesterday and do something even more embarrassing in front of Robert. He vows to himself that no matter what happens, he’s not going to let it absolutely ruin his night. He’s going to _try_ and have fun.

“Excellent,” Damien says and he catches the small smile that Robert flashes his way. He can’t stop his own from growing on his face as he looks back at him. They don’t say much else as they go on their way. Damien listens in on their conversation and Mary’s hundredth plan to woo Joseph tonight which is _weird_. A party is the last place he’d expect Joseph to be, but he can’t blame him, he guesses.

When they get to the party, it’s at an _enormous_ house. He’s not quite sure whose it is, but it’s nice and already shrouded with college students and probably the odd high school senior sprinkled in there. He helps Robert and Mary with the pizza boxes and as they walk through the front door with them, the crowd inside roars happily about the food finally getting there.

There are a _lot_ of people. It’s more than intimidating to Damien and it’s far too hot in that house. But Mary takes his arm and leads him through the crowd to the kitchen where they set down the pizzas on the island.

“And nobody touch the fucking pineapple pizza,” Damien hears Robert saying as he sets aside his personal box of pizza.

He hears someone in the background go, “Nobody wants that disgusting pizza, Rob,” and can’t help but laugh despite his disagreement. It lightens the mood a bit and Damien tunes into the song that’s resounding through the house. Something about tequila and champagne; it’s a good song, Damien decides, but a little bit too loud.

As soon as Damien looks back to Mary, she’s already glued to Joseph’s side with a red solo cup in her hand. Joseph, surprisingly, is holding what looks to be a margarita as he licks the salt from the rim. Damien has definitely underestimated him.

With Mary occupied and Robert – gone, Damien is on his own. He decides to navigate the party on his own, and he takes a cup of water so his hands are doing _something_ and he doesn’t look too awkward wandering around.

Damien bumps into a few people here and there as he finds his way through the groups of people. Over the sound system he hears the supposed DJ shout his name which Damien _thinks_ is DJ Spinmaster Quinn. He looks around for anyone he recognizes and is delighted when he sees Mat, Hugo, and the guy from the LGBT Alliance booth sitting on one of the couches. Hugo and Mat are passing a vape pen between the two of them and, as it appears, a lot of these people keep surprising him.

As he walks up to them, he hears Mat cough before going, “Please do not name your first kid Ernest Hemingway,” and Damien can’t help but laugh.

“Hey!” Mat says then and waves to Damien once he sees him. “Hugo, have you met Damien? He's Mary’s brother.”

Hugo nods, blowing out a vape cloud that Damien tries not to cough at. “I have, nice seeing you again, Damien,” Hugo says. He's just as polite as ever, even with a vape pen in his hands.

“Hello, it's a pleasure,” Damien says and he even greets Pablo who's a bit lost in the music.

“You havin’ fun?” Mat asks him over the music and Damien nods despite the fact that, no, he's not really having _fun_. It's all right. But he doesn't know if this qualifies as fun in his book.

“It's quite loud,” Damien observes. Mat laughs at this as he takes the vape pen from Hugo and takes a drag of it.

“You'll get used to it. I tend to drown it out, stick to myself and my group; contrary to popular belief, social interaction isn't my cup of tea,” Mat says. “But you should get around more, I know the other guys are around here somewhere,” Mat tells him before Damien nods and sets on his exploration. He's definitely shocked to know he and Mat actually have something in common.

He makes his rounds and he indeed finds Mason in the dining room holding up Craig as he performs what Damien assumes to be one of his famous keg stands. It’s actually quite impressive. In another room, there’s a game of beer pong going on, and the big guy he recognizes from the quad with the TV is being cheered on. By the sounds of the people cheering him on, he figures that this is the infamous Brian.

Damien walks around some more and doesn’t quite see anyone else he might recognize. It’s no surprise when Damien ends up tucked in a corner, sipping on his water and watching the world move without him. It’s not too bad, if he’s honest. He isn’t bored, he just doesn’t know what to do. He knows Mary is off trying her best to woo Joseph and who is Damien to try and interrupt that? Her brother who is in need of assistance and better social skills? Maybe, maybe not.

But Damien can survive for the night. Instead of hiding in the corner, Damien walks himself out back where there’s a pool, a pool house, and a lot less people. In the very back of the yard, there’s a porch swing, so Damien sets his sights on that. He makes it there and successfully drowns out a majority of the noise coming from inside of the house. This is peaceful, at least.

He spends a good ten minutes in a nice silence on his own before he sees someone making their way towards him. With the only light coming from the pool, he can’t quite make out who it is until they’re right in front of him. It’s then that he realizes it’s _Robert_ and he swallows thickly as he looks up at him.

“Hey,” is all that Robert says as he sits down next to him. Damien sees he has two slices of pineapple pizza on a plate and a cup in his hand.

“Hello,” Damien greets shyly in return. He tries to sound as confident as he can, but he isn’t sure how effective it is.

Robert doesn’t say anything else, instead just holds the plate out to Damien and raises his brows to him. Damien doesn’t know what to do for a moment before he just takes one of the slices from the plate.

“Mary said you actually liked this,” Robert says then and takes a bite from his own slice.

Damien rides through the feeling that surges through his body at this and manages a calm smile. He nods his head and takes a bite of his own. “You’re actually sharing with me?” he asks after another bite.

Robert shrugs, chuckling. “I think you’re the only other person here who even likes this pizza, I might as well,” he says. Damien smiles more.

That was the longest sentence Robert’s spoken to him so far and he wonders if maybe, just maybe, he talked a little more too, Robert would do the same.

“Anyways,” Robert starts before Damien can say anything else. “Why aren’t you inside? You a straight edge?”

Damien flushes a bit. The obvious answer might be _yes_ , but he shakes his head anyways. “No, I suppose, it’s just – Mary is the only person here I’ve got trust in and she’s…”

“Dancing on a table right now,” Robert finishes for him. Damien has to stifle a laugh. _Of course_ she is. Damien isn’t sure how many drinks she’s had yet or if she’s going to collapse at any moment, but he believes she’ll be okay. “Don’t worry though. Joseph’s got an eye on her,” Robert adds with a hum.

“Do you think he returns her feelings?” Damien ponders after a moment and looks at Robert curiously. He sees his eyes shift and there are a few beats of silence between them. But, instead of an answer, all Damien gets is a small huff. He doesn’t know whether or not he’s said something to upset Robert or if he just doesn’t know the answer to his question, but guilt washes over him for even asking.

As he goes to apologize or change the subject, Robert swiftly interrupts him. “Do you believe in Big Foot?” he asks boldly.

Damien is slightly taken aback by his sudden question and the manner in which it’s asked, so randomly and brash. But, Damien shrugs anyways and looks to Robert. “I don’t think so, no,” he says.

“What about Mothman?” Robert questions again. Damien shakes his head. “I personally think Mothman is bullshit. But Big Foot…he might be out there. You know, I’ve seen the Jersey Devil with my own two eyes.”

Damien is confused, to say the least, at the sudden topic change, but he’s intrigued. He eyes Robert’s jagged exterior and wonders if this is a _passion_ of his. It’s…intriguing. Damien is hooked, honestly. “What’s the...Jersey Devil?”

Robert smirks. “An ugly thing. Wings and hooves and a blood curdling growl. I’ve only been truly terrified twice in my life; once when I was mugged in the streets of Brooklyn, and once when the Jersey Devil almost killed me.”

Damien teeters on whether or not to believe a word Robert is saying. He doesn’t know anything about these monsters, these _cryptids_ , but with the look in Robert’s eyes, he’s willing to listen to stories upon stories.

“You wouldn’t happen to be lying, would you?”

“Hell no!” Robert huffs and looks at Damien with an offended expression. “You really think I’d lie about my life being on the line?”

Damien blushes again, thinking he’s actually offended Robert. “I – I apologize, I’m sorry you had to go through – “

Just then, Robert bursts out laughing. It’s a laugh that Damien hasn’t yet heard and it sends his heart soaring. This is rare feeling to him, feeling his body warm at the sound of someone’s glorious laugh, but it’s not a feeling he’ll dare complain about. He won’t admit to himself that a crush is forming, but deep down, he knows it’s been growing since the first time he saw Robert smile.

“I’m fucking with you, man,” Robert tells him. Damien’s cheeks continue to burn as Robert continues to laugh but, somehow, he can tell that it isn’t at him. “You’re cool.”

Damien musters a smile at this. “Thank you, I suppose,” he offers politely.

Within another moment, Robert changes the subject again. “So, Mary’s told me a lot about you,” he says, repeating what he said to him the day before. “But I think it’s more fun to not tell you what she’s told me.”

“Oh?” Damien quips. “Could you at least spare me one detail?”

Robert hums thoughtfully, even stroking his chin for extra measure. “Well,” he says, treading lightly. “She told me you got a full ride. Pretty fuckin’ impressive, man.”

Damien smiles, shrugging bashfully. “It was not a big deal. I just wanted to assure that I was able to attend the school Mary went to.”

“Still pretty damn awesome,” Robert says, then adds, “I sold one of my kidneys to pay for my tuition,” with a straight face as he looks at Damien. He lifts his shirt to show Damien a scar on his hip and raises a brow to gauge his reaction.

Damien, _clearly_ , gasps and looks at Robert with wide eyes. “I - seriously?” he asks in a hushed voice.

Robert laughs, the same one that sends a rush of warmth through Damien’s chest and up to the swell of his cheeks as he flushes with embarrassment once more. His chances of redemption are becoming slim. “No, man, just a lot of scholarship essays and a fallen appendix.”

Damien begins to pick up on this habit of Robert’s, his tendency to tell tall tales for his own amusement and also a bit of Damien’s. He manages to give his own laugh this time around and it makes the smile on Robert’s face twitch into a slightly bigger one. They exchange a _look_. What it means, Damien’s not too sure, but he cherishes it anyways.

“How did you come to meet Mary?” Damien asks this time, taking his turn to randomly switch subjects.

Robert raises a brow and smirks. “How did you?”

Damien laughs more this time, understanding the obvious joke as he even snorts a little. Robert’s laugh is a bit subtler, but it’s warmer this time around.

“Alright, I’ll stop being an ass,” Robert says, and Damien is quick with his response.

“You? An ass?”

Robert looks _surprised_ at this one, and his face contorts into a look of something else that Damien can’t quite decipher. He isn’t sure of the line between bewilderment, offense, or fondness. He doesn’t let himself believe that it’s the latter.

“Well,” Robert starts after he composes himself. “I was in the quad and she was playing a sweet game of ultimate frisbee when the frisbee hit me upside the head and knocked me unconscious. I woke up to Mary threatening to kick my ass for interrupting her game.”

Damien _finally_ doesn’t fall for this one right away. He eyes Robert skeptically because, while some parts of that seem true, he isn’t sure of the possibility of Mary ever holding a frisbee. He remains wary until Robert finally cracks.

“Fine, fine, we both needed to rent a World War II doc from the library and I took the last one. She _did_ threaten to kick my ass if I didn’t let her watch it with me though.

Damien snorts again. _That_ he believes.

“That's my dear sister for you. I'm glad you took a liking to her,” Damien comments, pleased. Then, he asks, “What documentary was it?”

“An old one, they make you watch it in History 033. It's the Women in American History class and it's just a doc on the doctors and women of war,” Robert tells him, shrugging. “You probably haven't seen it.”

“Don't contemn me, dear Robert,” Damien scoffs sharply and lays a hand on his chest in faux offense.

“Oh, so you know it?” Robert challenges, smirking.

“As a matter of fact, I do. I've seen a handful of history documentaries seeing as I'm _minoring_ in history.”

“Well, shit,” Robert says. Now he looks truly taken aback.

“Yes, well,” says Damien as he looks down and plays with the ruffles at the ends of his sleeves.

“I mean, history docs are cool,” Robert tells him, shrugging a bit. “I was actually, uh, just watching that one to…watch it. Since I did take that class three years ago. It’s a good doc though.”

Damien’s heart flutters a bit. Robert watching history documentaries for _fun_ is amazing, but Robert watching history documentaries about women and their historical impact all for _fun_ is something that would make his knees weak if he weren’t already sitting down.

“I watch a lot of Victorian Era documentaries,” Damien says. “For fun,” he quickly adds.

Robert seems to light up a bit and he looks down to the ruffles on his shirt. He looks as if he’s tying things together before he lets out an “ah.”

“Victorian culture. Is that your…” he motions to the ruffles, “thing? The ruffles and the…vocabulary?”

Damien smiles slightly, even a bit sheepishly. He never delves too much into his choice of interests with other people because they’re never interested. Nobody ever asks first, so he never brings it up. He just lets people think _why does he talk that way_ until he finds a moment to actually explain himself (not that he should). That’s why he keeps it subtle most days. He doesn’t always feel like explaining himself or have people ask too many questions. He keeps his wardrobe to a minimum on most days.

“They’re called Bouillonné. Translated from French, it means bubbled,” Damien informs him. Robert gives a genuine smile. “And, uh, I suppose so. I’ve been interested in the Victorian Era and cultures since the beginning of high school. I studied it for an essay and became entranced, more specifically with Victorian Gothic. I would even dare to say it’s part of my identity now, some of my clothes and the dialect I choose, but…some people find it odd? So I tend to keep it tame on most days. I save most things for special occasions, like parties. The people of the Victorian Era did enjoy their parties.”

Damien finishes his speech and is immediately a little embarrassed. He didn’t intend to unload all of that on Robert all at once. But Robert is still trained on him, as if he was actually _listening_ , intently even. Damien fiddles with the ruffles some more.

“Hey,” Robert says then. “Fuck what other people think.”

Damien’s ears perk and his smile becomes a little wider. He doesn’t say anything, but Robert stands up and stretches. Their pizza is gone and Robert’s cup is empty as it seems they mindlessly finished it amongst their conversation. Damien wants to say something, but he’s honestly pleasantly surprised at the whole ordeal that he can’t quite bring himself to do it.

After a few moments, there’s a loud noise from the back doors and there’s a crowd of people making their way out. Some girls, still in their clothes, are giggling and standing at the edge of the pool before they jump in. The surrounding boys cheer and throw back their cups of liquor.

Damien takes this as his cue to get up as well. His peace has been disrupted, but tiredness is beginning to plague his body anyways. He supposes it’s time to tell Robert he’s ready to go, and that means _more_ alone time with him, which, at this point, doesn’t sound all too terrible. But, just as he’s about to say something, Brian comes out and looks straight at them.

“Rob, you better come check on your girl,” he calls out to him, and Robert sighs.

Damien doesn’t know what Brian means immediately by _your girl_ , but he soon processes that he means _Mary_ , and worry floods his body. Mostly for Mary’s wellbeing, but also over _your girl_. It’s trivial, so he tucks it in the back of his mind to mull over later.

“Come on,” Robert tells Damien before they’re bounding inside, making a bee line for the living room where Mary is passed out on the couch. Joseph is sitting next to her, or more like supporting her as she leans on him.

“Hey,” Joseph says carefully to not wake her, but Damien knows that won’t be a problem. “She, uh, she threw up in one of the trash cans and nearly passed out on her feet, so I brought her over here. I think you should take her back to her dorm.”

Damien’s worry doesn’t subside so easily. He’s never really seen Mary like this, and it’s not a sight that he wants to get used to. The party around them has only died down slightly. People are still drinking and dancing and eating the last of the pizza. But, right now, all Damien wants to do is get Mary in bed with a glass of water on her night stand.

“Right,” Robert says and he grabs Mary’s hand, gently caressing her cheek to shake her awake. He’s so tender and gentle with her, and he coaxes her to slight consciousness with a voice that Damien would have never thought to come from him. His heart is conflicted between expressing fondness or jealousy.

They manage to get her on her feet and Joseph is kind enough to help get her in the back seat of the Volkswagen so she can lay down.

“Take care of her, okay?” Joseph says to Robert, who just walks to the other side of the car to open the driver’s door. Robert just looks at him and gives a curt nod.

Damien can sense the actually worry and care emitting from Joseph and it’s a little heartwarming, but he can’t figure out why Robert is being so short with him. If Damien were to guess, he’d guess jealousy, but – _why_.

As he says goodbye to Joseph, Damien gets into the car, and they’re off. Mary is sleeping soundly in the back and Robert looks as brooding as ever as he steers singlehandedly. He looks so pensive. Damien doesn’t dare to stare for too long, but his mind races for explanations.

When his mind approaches a theory, he doesn’t want to make himself believe it. He thinks of when he asked Robert about Joseph’s possible returned feelings for Mary and how he couldn’t even bring himself to answer. He thinks of Robert’s tenderness with Mary and the amount of care for her and he just – he just thinks _what if_.

What _if_ Robert has some inkling of feelings for Mary and, because it seems that Joseph just _might_ return her feelings, it calls for short, jealous interactions with him. Mary likes Joseph and Joseph may just like her back, so that would leave no room for Robert. Damien theorizes a million things, and it’s the only thing that makes sense. However, deep down, he doesn’t quite know if he’s just asking himself for a reason to _not_ get enraptured by mysterious eyes and a sweet, warm laugh.

It’s only been two days, though. Damien barely knows any of these people, barely knows their mannerisms or their stories. He’s getting too caught up in his own thoughts, all because he might be developing a crush on his sister’s best friend. But – Robert _was_ the first person to actually ask about his interests, to actually sit down and give him somewhat good advice in regards to how Damien feels about them. Actually, it was pretty damn good advice. The best Damien’s gotten so far. If that doesn’t deserve a fraction of a heart flutter, he doesn’t know what does.

But if Robert actually…if he actually might _like_ Mary, then…

Damien buries it. He buries all of his thoughts and feelings on the matter. He’s here for _school_ after all, and he’s had his fun. Classes start next week and his mind can’t be occupied by such petty things. Especially not a dumb – maybe – crush on someone he’s known for a day.

When they get back to the school, Damien does his best to help Robert take Mary up to her dorm. Her roommate is probably at the party still, so Damien lets Robert tuck her in while he places a glass of water and two Advils on her nightstand.

“You don’t have to worry, by the way,” Robert speaks up for the first time since the party once they’ve made sure Mary is settled into bed, sleeping soundly. Damien didn’t think his concern was emitting that much. “Mary’s a lightweight, if you didn’t already know. It’s not like she had fifty drinks, trust me,” he tells Damien.

“Oh,” is all Damien can say for the moment.

“Just – she’s going to be okay. You can sleep easy tonight.”

Damien nods his head, his eyes trained on Mary’s sleeping figure. He thinks they’re just about to leave when Robert pulls the blanket tight around Mary, and leans in to press a kiss to her forehead. It’s the softest act he’s seen from him thus far, and the feeling that roams through Damien’s body is _strong_. He doesn’t know how much longer he can doubt himself.

Robert leads them out of the dorm room and gets them out of the building before one of the RA’s catches them in the girl’s dorm building. They walk in silence to Damien’s and stop just as he pulls out his key card to get into the building.

“Hey,” Robert pipes up, stuffing his hands in his pockets. His eyes are on the ground, his shroud of confidence seemingly dissipated for the time being. “So, there’s a dollar theater downtown. They’re playing Schindler’s List this month. It’s not exactly Victorian Era, but it’s a pretty damn good movie, if you want to go catch it this weekend.”

Damien smiles for the first time since their time on the porch swing. His heart pitter patters, and he looks up at Robert with soft eyes. Without even having to think much, he nods his head. “That sounds absolutely delightful,” he says, and oh _man_ , if his stomach doesn’t twist when Robert smiles back.

“Cool,” Robert says. He’s being short again, but in all honesty, Damien can’t bring himself to care. His mind is revolving around the fact that Robert’s asked him to hang out. He’s deemed him well enough to actually willingly spend time with him. It’s a shock, but never in a million years is he going to complain. “So. Good night, I guess,” Robert adds and steps down from the door.

“Until we meet again, Robert, good evening,” Damien says gently. He shares a wave good bye with Robert before he’s walking off. Damien watches him a beat longer than intended before he finally goes into the building. When he gets to his dorm, he notices he’s still alone. The door connecting the dorms is open, and in the adjacent room, there’s a small dog sleeping soundly on one of the beds. Damien smiles.

After getting ready, Damien climbs into bed and lets his bones settle for the day. While his body shuts down, his mind continues to race. He thinks about Mary and Joseph, Mary and Robert, _him_ and Robert, and too many things to be worrying about. He thinks about his time with Robert on the swing and the conversation they shared. While it honestly wasn’t much, it was enough to have Damien actually thinking about the flips his heart and stomach did.

He ponders on the possibility of Robert having feelings for Mary though, and he sighs.

Damien knows it’s going to plague him for some time.

But, just as his mind begins to finally power down for the night, he thinks of the movie he’s meant to see with Robert. He thinks of the interests they share and the fact that they’re doing something _together._

Before he drifts to sleep, Damien has a troubling, but undeniable thought: whether or not those feelings for Mary are there, the crush brewing within his heart is there to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!!! comments and kudos are much appreciated <3 see you nxt chapter!!
> 
> smalllmarch.tumblr.com or rrobertsmall.tumblr.com


	3. three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dorm room shenanigans and a dollar movie theater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: weed mentions, but nothing is actually done with it. well something is done w it. not smoked though.
> 
> i should mention that the explicit warning is for later chapters and im sorry if ive mislead anyone!!!
> 
> anyways, here's chap 3

It’s _wet_. Damien wakes up, and his face is _wet._ There’s a weight on his chest and there’s something licking (?) his face. When he opens his eyes, it’s indeed licking as he sees the dog from the room over on top of him and panting into his face. Up close, Damien can finally see that it’s a small, beige and white maltese.

Damien’s initial response is to groan, but he immediately regrets it because this dog is so damn _cute_. It’s one of the more ideal ways to wake up, anyways, even if it means having dog saliva all over his face.

“Carl?” he hears from the joint door and looks up to see Craig in the doorway.

“Bro,” Craig says then and walks over to pick up the dog from Damien’s chest. Damien sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“His name is Carl?” Damien asks groggily and looks up to be met by Craig’s charming smile.

“Yeah, man,” he says, holding Carl to his side. “Sorry he woke you. I was…uh, just chillin’ with Mason, we look up, and he’s gone,” Craig explains. “We must've left the door cracked a little. Whoops.”

“It's quite alright,” Damien tells him, reaching out to scratch Carl behind his ears. This elicits a joyful response from Carl, who starts wagging his tail and licking Damien's hand.

“Dude, I don't think we've officially met,” Craig says then and holds his free hand to Damien in a fist. Damien ponders for a moment before he puts his own hand into a fist, touching it against Craig’s. “There we go,” Craig laughs. “I'm Craig, if you didn't already know. I know you're Damien, Mary’s brother.”

“Pleasure,” Damien says. “I feel as if ‘Mary’s Brother’ is another name of mine,” he adds jokingly. Craig actually laughs.

“Sorry, bro,” Craig apologizes takes it upon himself to sit on the edge of Mat’s bed across from him. He starts scratching places on Carl to make him happy, and the dog _is_ quite happy. It’s adorable, really. Damien can barely handle it. “It’s just sort of cool having someone who’s related to her around. The more the merrier.”

Damien wants to remind Craig that he’s not going to be a carbon copy of Mary, not going to be as cool as her or as funny, but he’ll be _himself_. He hopes that’ll be good enough. But, instead, he just hums and nods his head to Craig. Before he can even respond, Mason pops his head into the room, hair rustled and looking sheepish. He offers a wave to Damien, which is returned, before giving Craig a knowing look.

“Duty calls,” Craig laughs, getting up from the bed. Damien wants to go _what,_ but Craig turns to Damien then. “You busy today?”

Damien shakes his head. “Not until tonight,” he says. A wave of heat crashes over him when he realizes that, indeed, he is seeing Robert tonight. He smiles a bit to himself.

“Cool!” Craig smiles wider. “Well, when Mat gets back from work, we were all gonna chill in here for a bit. You’re welcomed to stick around.”

Damien grins at Craig and kindly accepts his offer to hang out. He likes this group already; they’re kind, a bit funny, and if Mary approves, he doesn’t see a reason for him not to.

He lets Craig leave and close the door behind himself so Carl doesn’t come back over to him, even if Damien wouldn’t quite mind.

-

After showering and settling on a similar outfit from the party ( _special occasion,_ he tells himself), Damien buries himself into a book on his bed. He’s alone for a good while, and it’s nice. He finds himself reading the same page over and over again, though, reading about some Victorian girl’s helpless crush at least twelve times. It’s all because he can’t stop himself from thinking about _damn Robert_ , not even long enough to realize the irony of the situation.

He tries his hardest not to, he really does. But his mind veers back to the sound of his laugh and the texture of his chin scruff and the mystery shrouding his eyes. Damien obsesses over how the night might go. Damien could cry during the movie and Robert could definitely comfort him. That’s ideal, really. There are too many scenarios that circulate through his head, all of them bringing various feelings to the depths of his stomach.

He manages to ease it by going to get something to eat later on in the day, and when he comes back, sure enough, Mat is back as well and absolutely chilling with Craig, Mason, and Carl. Craig and Mason are on the floor, Mason’s head in Craig’s lap as Carl lounges besides the both of them. Damien eyes them closely, but it's brief, he dismisses it quickly.

“Damien!” Mat cheers when Damien walks through the door, a vape cloud escaping past his lips as he sits up. “Shit, sorry, man. I should’ve asked if this was okay,” he immediately says and tries to wave away the cloud.

Damien, though, shakes his head politely and saunters over to his bed, careful not to step on two boys or a dog. “I do not mind, Mat,” he tells him kindly, and Mat repays him with a smile.

“Cool, thanks,” Mat says before he inhales more from his vape pen.

It doesn’t smell too bad anyways, almost like coffee, and Damien wonders if Mat has managed to get a _coffee flavored_ vape pen. It’s not bad. Damien can manage.

“So, anyways,” Mat says and averts his attention back to Craig and Mason on the floor. “He comes up to the counter and asks for some of the banana bread, but I tell him we’re out. I tell him, if he wants, he can wait for the next batch in ten minutes. Then he goes off about how we should have some ready and how he won’t _stand_ for this mistreatment.”

“Did you tell him to take his self-entitled ass to Starbucks?” Mason asks, scoffing.

“You’re fucking right I did,” Mat confirms. Damien stifles a laugh, which earns a small smirk from Mat before he continues. “I was much nicer about it, obviously, but I told him if he didn’t want to wait ten minutes for fresh baked banana bread, he can go wait _fifteen_ in a line at Starbucks for some stale, previously frozen _garbage_.”

Craig and Mason burst out laughing, and even Damien chuckles a bit as Carl lifts his head to inspect all of them curiously.

“But yeah,” Mat huffs, “just another day at the glorious Coffee Spoon. Come by for your daily dramatics at 3 P.M.”

“You work at a coffee shop?” Damien pipes up, looking at Mat the way Carl was just a few moments ago.

“Yeah, it’s…” Mat trails off. “It’s different. It’s fun. And it pays for this baby right here,” he says and waves his pen before taking another puff from it. Afterwards, he digs into his pocket and pulls out a baggie of _something_ , smirking at Craig and Mason. “Also this. Molly hooked me up and since classes start in two days, I think we all deserve a lil something.”

It’s then that Damien notices _what_ it is, and he flushes a bit. He isn’t used to _this_. He can’t remember what’s legal or not legal, seeing as he doesn’t follow the politics of _marijuana_ , but he knows they should definitely _not_ have weed on school premises. He doesn’t doubt that other students do, but not him, and he most certainly didn’t expect it to be within a fifty foot radius.

But, as if on cue, when Mat pulls out a couple of rolling papers, there’s a knock on the door.

“Hey, Mat! It’s Hugo, mind if I come in?”

The door handle starts to jiggle and the other three _panic_. The door is locked, but Carl lets out a bark and within seconds, Mason is up and bolting to put Carl in the next room. Damien watches Mat and Craig freak out, clearly flustered as Mat runs to the window and opens it.

“Bro, no!” Craig shouts, but it’s too late. Mat’s thrown the weed out the window. “Dude, holy shit, why didn’t you just hide it?”

“I don’t know! I panicked!” Mat yells, but in a hushed voice before Hugo knocks on the door again and asks what’s going on.

“I’ll get it,” Damien then speaks up and he nervously goes to the door. When he opens it, Hugo is standing on the other side, clearly confused and bewildered. “Hello, Hugo, good day to you,” Damien greets politely, sure not to open the door all of the way.

“Hey…” Hugo says skeptically. “Is…is anyone else here?”

Damien _knows_ that Hugo knows he heard the rest of them, and surely the dog too, so he nods and looks back to Mat who just gives him a thumbs up once he’s settled. “Uh, yes. Come in, will you?” Damien finally steps aside and lets Hugo in. Everything seems okay. Mason is back, Carl isn’t barking, the weed is _bye-bye_. It’s all okay. But, then –

“Damn it, Mat,” Hugo groans as soon as the door is shut and he gets a whiff of the air in the room. “You know I’m cool with the vaping, but not in the _damn room_.”

“Sorry, dude, won’t happen again.” Mat holds his hands up in surrender and Damien sees a rolling paper fall from them. His eyes widen and, before Hugo can see, he swoops in to save him. He picks it up and throws it into their trash bin.

“Cleanliness is important,” Damien offers, finally getting back on his bed.

Everything seems _okay_. Hugo drops the vape situation but then asks why he heard a _bark_. Craig tells him that Mason’s got a killer cough, which Mason fake coughs at. Damien begins checking his phone, and, oddly enough, there’s a weirdly toned message from Mary.

_Uhhhhh….why did robert ask me for ur #?????_

Damien’s lips twitch and his cheeks heat up a bit. _Robert_ asked for his _number_. He knows full well it’s only for means of communication for the night, seeing as they never traded them beforehand, but it still churns the feelings in his stomach. He means to reply to her, but there’s yet another knock on the dorm room door. Damien thinks maybe it’s Robert, but…

“My guys!” a deep voice comes from the other side. “It’s Brian, I saw something come out of your window! Mat, did you throw your weed out again?”

Damien watches as Hugo turns to glare at Mat who, rightfully so, has let his face fall completely as he looks up at him. Damien is completely nervous about the inevitable argument that is brewing between the two of them, but his phone buzzes and absolutely _saves_ him.

The message he reads is from an unknown number, but its contents tell him exactly who it is.

_hey. it’s robert. come outside._

Damien lets out a sigh of relief. As Hugo begins lecturing Mat about the dorm building _policies_ , he sneaks out, slipping out the door and offering a short greeting and goodbye to Brian and Mat’s bag of weed.

Damien rushes down to the drop-off/pick-up zone to find Robert leaning against a banged up, red pick-up truck with a cigarette in his mouth. He looks just as good as the other two times Damien’s seen him, and he can’t help the smile that he offers him as he approaches.

“Good evening, Robert,” he greets happily.

Robert gives him a nod in response and pushes off of the truck, flicking his cigarette into the gutter. “Hey,” he finally says and opens the passenger door for Damien.

Damien nods as thanks as he gets into the truck. As Robert walks round, Damien quickly makes sure his shirt is okay, and he even looks into the rear view mirror to make sure nothing is in his teeth. He settles back as soon as Robert opens the passenger door and folds his hands neatly into his lap.

“Uh,” Robert says and looks over at Damien. “You smell like coffee.”

Damien doesn’t notice it until _then_ , but as he takes a quick sniff, he realizes that he _does_ smell like Mat’s vape smoke. He’s initially embarrassed, and he goes to apologize, but Robert stops him.

“It’s cool. I like it,” Robert adds, and Damien melts a bit. He’ll have to remember to thank Mat.

They set off driving and Damien doesn’t quite know how to fill the silence or if he even should. He eyes Robert as discreetly as he can, and Robert seems…comfortable. He doesn’t look nervous (Damien prays he doesn’t either), doesn’t seem disgruntled by the empty air between them. He looks so…peaceful, watching the road and keeping between the lines.

So, Damien sits there, and just counts the street signs until he can find something better to do.

When they stop, Damien instinctively prepares to get out of the car, but stops when he realizes they are most definitely not at a movie theater. They’re in the parking lot of an animal shelter. Damien looks to Robert, who is already unbuckling and opening his door.

“Robert…?” Damien says pensively, and Robert looks as if he’s just remembered Damien was still there.

“Ah, sorry. I should’ve asked,” Robert tells him. He smiles a little apologetically. “I just – I need to do something. Give me five?” he asks.

Damien is confused to say the least, but he nods his head. He won’t impose. “Of course,” he says, and Robert is off.

Damien waits patiently in the car for Robert, as promised, and wonders what Robert could possibly have to do with an animal shelter. He decides against putting Robert in a box just based on his looks and whatever he’s learned of him in two whole days. Damien assumes, maybe, he works or volunteers here and has to settle some affairs before they can go off and have fun.

Just as Damien is getting lost in his thoughts, Robert finally comes back ten, not five, minutes later. Damien won’t hold it against him though. If they’re important matters, he doesn’t mind.

“Thanks for waiting,” Robert says once he’s back in the car and Damien shakes his head.

“It’s completely fine, don’t worry.”

Robert smiles at him, Damien smiles back, and that’s it. They sink back into their comfortable silence and Damien finds himself getting used to it quite easily. He usually feels so awkward in situations like this, and in contrast to the night of actual talking he had with Robert at the party, it _is_ a little weird, but Damien is oddly okay with it. It’s something he can grow accustom to.

Finally, the next time they stop, they’re actually at the movie theater. They’ve driven a bit of ways from the campus, and the little strip mall that the theater is in is pretty much dead. There are a few people walking around for the Chinese food restaurant and the dollar store, but the theater only has a couple of teens and elders going through its doors.

It’s quaint, though, and Damien can appreciate it when he knows most wouldn’t. Robert guides him to the ticket booth sitting outside the theater. Inside of it, there looks to be a bored and dreary girl with pink streaks in her hair, but as soon as she sees Robert approaching, she immediately perks up.

“Well, well, well,” the girl says over the poor microphone once they reach the booth. “If it isn’t our _only customer ever_.”

“Drop the attitude, Jules,” Robert quips playfully, and the girl snickers.

“Who’s the kid?” _Jules_ asks, nodding towards Damien, and he suddenly feels intimidated. These two obviously know each other and Robert _clearly_ comes here a lot, so Damien feels so out of the loop. He does his best not to duck behind Robert and hide like an actual shy child.

“A friend, name’s Damien,” Robert tells her as he pulls out his wallet.

Damien sort of soars at Robert calling him a friend. Up until this point, he speculated, but he wasn’t _sure_. Acquaintances doesn’t describe them anymore and it feels…nice.

“Schindler’s?” Jules asks, already tearing two tickets apart from the rest as Robert nods, sliding a five into the ticket booth.

Damien wonders about Robert’s history with this theater. If he really is, literally or not, their _only customer ever_ , he wonders how often he comes here and why. Damien thinks of the box he definitely is not putting Robert in, and just tells himself that Robert is full of surprises. Small, pleasant surprises.

“Keep the change, thanks,” Robert says as he takes the tickets and starts to walk off. Damien, of course, follow suit as Jules yells back, “Thanks for paying my bills!”

Three more people inside of the theater recognize Robert and say hello, to more of Damien’s surprise. The journey to their seats has him reeling with questions, but he doesn’t dare ask any of them. When they get to the theater their movie is in, Damien takes note of how small it actually is. There are only two more people there, an elderly couple in the middle row, so Robert leads them to the very back.

“Acoustics are best back here if you ask me,” Robert tells Damien as they settle into their seats. They've both gotten a drink and candy from the concession stand, Robert having Milk Duds while Damien chose Skittles. He wouldn't _mind_ , though, if Robert offered him some of his.

The movie starts shortly and Damien tries his best to pay attention, but...it's hard. He and Robert are nearly sharing an arm rest, their hands brush against one another dozens of times throughout the first half of the movie, and Damien’s a _lot_ warmer than he should be within the air conditioned theater.

He can barely pay attention to most of the movie, but given the amount of times he’s seen the movie, he cries when appropriate. It’s not much, just a tear that rolls down his cheek while the rest stay confined to his eyes. Damien really does his best to hide it, but one sniffle, and Robert is looking to him. He isn’t going to look back at first, but he can’t stop himself, and when he does, he’s _surprised_.

In the corners of Robert’s eyes, and in the right light, Damien can see his tears.

“How can you not, right?” Robert tells him, but he’s immediately hushed by the elderly couple in front. Robert scoffs, but he flashes a brief smile at Damien, even giving his hand a small pat.

Damien smiles too. He wipes his tears with the sleeve of his shirt and he lets the movie trek forward. They share their candies and watch on. There's a point in the movie where Robert briefly takes his phone out, but Damien finally is too engrossed in the movie to even care. When it’s finally over, Damien has cried only once more, and he makes sure to wipe his face free of tears. He goes to get up, but he feels a hand wrap tight around his wrist the moment he’s on his feet.

“Nuh-uh,” Robert huffs. Damien sits back slowly. “This movie was _beautifully_ crafted and I never, ever leave a movie without making sure the good men and women who worked on it get their recognition.”

The elderly couple peers at them, clearly judging them on the way out, and Damien _snorts_ when Robert flips them off as they finally leave the theater.

“This is very…kind of you,” Damien says once he’s managed to stop laughing, but he only chuckles a bit more. “Not the flipping off of elderly couples. The appreciating those who work hard on art.”

“They deserve it, don’t they?”

Damien isn't sure if he means the couple or the hard working men and women, but he nods anyways. He finally gets a good look at Robert under the white light of the credits still rolling on the screen. He looks twice as rugged beneath it, and he can see lines of his jaw, the tell-tale sign of tiredness beneath his eyes. For some reason, in the light that casts upon him, he can see whatever hardships Robert’s gone through, buried in the shadows, the left over tears – in his eyes.

“They do,” Damien says. Robert smiles a little wider.

The credits finally finish, Robert gives one last thanks, and they finally leave together. They go outside for some fresh air, and Damien realizes how musky it sort of was inside the theater when he gets a nice inhale of the air outside.

“So,” Damien says as the make the walk back to Robert’s truck. They're idling, and Damien doesn't quite mind. “Do you attend the cinema often? Many of the employees, uh, they seemed to know you well.” Damien builds the courage to finally ask the questions that were plaguing him for the past three and a half hours. He half expects Robert to just...not answer him, as he did with the Joseph-possibly-liking-Mary question.

But, Robert chuckles, and stuffs his hands in his pockets. “I mean, I guess you could say that,” he tells him. “They...they play a lot of old eighties and nineties movies, and they’re my favorite. It's also a dollar, but I always end up paying a lot more just ‘cause, ya know, they've got to be getting paid less than min wage.”

“I surely hope not,” Damien says and he's _actually_ disgruntled as he looks back with sorrow at the girl who's still moping in the ticket booth, probably half asleep as she leans on her arm. She certainly deserves better. Damien looks forward again, though, and back to Robert. “But - that's really - it's really...cool.”

“Cool?” Robert laughs. “Victorian Prince thinks I'm cool?”

Damien blushes a bit and looks down as they continue walking. He shrugs. “I suppose. You think I'm ‘cool,’ don't you?”

“Eh,” Robert shrugs, “you're alright.”

“Wow!” Damien scoffs in mock disbelief. He looks back to Robert and actually _pouts_. “I offer my time to you, I weep with you during a movie, I even allowed you to have some of my _precious_ skittles, and I am not cool to you?”

Robert lets out a heartfelt laugh at him, and Damien can't stop himself from joining in. _This_ is what fun feels like to him. It's not shying away from a party (even if it did allow him to speak with Robert for a good while) or hiding dogs and weed from his RA. It's this: sharing laughs with Robert and spending nearly four hours in a peaceful, tearful silence.

Despite _really_ not knowing Robert for longer than three days, this is so nice. He feels a true friendship blooming between the two of them, and even though it may be partially a crush, Damien will cherish his company no matter what.

“Alright, fine. You're _cool_ , happy?” Robert says as they finally approach his truck. They stand at the front of it, and Damien smiles at Robert.

“Yes,” he claims gleefully. “Very.”

“Good.”

They stand there for a few moments, just _smiling_ at each other, and Damien doesn't have the nerve to break it. Not until he feels a buzz coming from his pocket. He tears his eyes from Robert and pulls his phone out to find Mary calling, and after briefly checking his notification bar, he finds an _onslaught_ of messages from her.

He answers the call, and gives a swift, “Hello?”

“What the _hell!_ ” comes Mary’s sharp reply. Damien hears Robert laugh a little as they finally get into the truck. “Where the hell are you?”

Damien swallows thickly. “I'm, uh, with Robert,” he tells her. He actually shies away from Robert, because, well, Mary is in her _protective big sister_ mode. Damien supposes that maybe he should have told her, told Mat, told _someone_ where he was going but - he honestly figured Robert would have said something to her.

Robert, though, is snickering in the background and Damien peers at him oddly. “What the _fuck,_ ” Mary groans over the phone. “That asshole told me he didn't know where you were! I texted him an hour ago, Jesus fucking Christ, I'm going to kill him,” she seethes, and in the background on her end, Damien hears a familiar voice go, “Mary, _please_.”

It’s definitely Joseph, and he's definitely scolding her for either her blasphemous language or her threats towards Robert. Probably both.

Damien pinches the bridge of his nose. While the situation is slightly humorous, it's _embarrassing_. Robert is still laughing and Mary is hushing Joseph before she sighs into the phone. “Just - let me know when you're back at your dorm. Mat is with Hugo and Craig and Mason are probably fu - ”

“ _Mary!_ ”

Damien’s eyes go wide and he hears Joseph telling Mary that she just can't _say_ those things like that, and they murmur a few more things. Mary's voice goes a bit softer and Damien thinks he hears Joseph call her _hun_ before Mary finally comes back to him. “Just - text me, okay!”

Damien sighs. “I'll text you, I promise,” he tells her, and the call ends. Damien turns to _scoff_ at Robert, who only bursts out laughing. “You scared her!”

“Babe, we do that all the time to each other,” Robert says amidst his laughter.

Damien goes to scold him, but he stops. _Babe_. Robert called him _babe_. He knows, he _knows_ that it doesn't mean anything, really. But it still catches his heart by surprise and makes it do a double take before he sinks into his seat a little. His mind ventures to a fantasy in which Robert calls him “babe” in a completely different manner. His need to berate him deflates and he just huffs, crossing his arms. “Please don't do it again,” he mumbles quietly. He feels Robert’s eyes on him briefly.

“Sorry,” Robert says, voice surprisingly gentle. “But, in my defense - ” Damien raises an eyebrow to him, “in _my defense_ , you could have told her where you were going if she, ya know, gets that way with you.”

“I - ” Damien starts, but immediately stops himself. Robert’s right. He knew he should have told her, shouldn't have ignored her initial text messages. His excitement to see Robert must have clouded his better judgment. “Yes, I suppose you're right. She just...she worries for me.”

Damien sees Robert’s lips twitch a bit, and, just as before, they fall into a peaceful silence. Just like that.

They drive back to the campus and Robert parks in a place he certainly should not be parking in. Damien doesn't dare contest though, and they get out of the car to make the walk to his dorm building. Unlike the night of the party, Robert actually goes inside the building with him, and to the elevator that Damien has to take to get to his floor.

“Thanks for, uh, coming with me tonight,” Robert says to him, hands back in his pockets. “I actually had plans for something else, but seeing as Mary is flipping her shit, we can...save it for another night, I guess?”

Damien grins at Robert, pressing the button for the elevator. “Promise me you won't frighten Mary again?”

“Promise you'll just tell her in the first place?” Robert laughs. Damien joins him.

“Okay, I promise,” Damien swears.

“Cool.”

They smile to each other. “Cool.”

“Until next time?” Robert says just as the elevators doors open. Damien steps in, daring to smirk at him.

“Until next time, dear Robert.”

The doors of the elevator close just as Damien catches a glimpse of Robert’s charming smile and a wave of his hand. His heart jumps to his throat, and he places a hand over his chest to calm himself.

The night was uniquely perfect. Not a lot was said, but Damien feels completely content with that. He’s starting to get more of a feel for the type of person that Robert is, and the more he unravels, the more he can feel the ground beneath him start to quiver and give. He sinks further and further into the sandpit known as Robert Small.

It's unknown whether or not Robert has this affect on all people, or if there are a dozen people out there that are caught in a _Where Is This Weird Crush Going_ limbo. Damien wouldn't doubt it.

As the elevator shakes to a halt and the doors open, Damien composes himself enough to step out. He makes his way to his dorm room before he remembers that he hasn't texted Mary yet, and a wave of panic washes over him. He quickly fumbles with his phone to get a text sent to her. He does this as he opens the door, and when he hits send, a chirping sound startles him nearly out of his shoes.

A shout leaves his throat, and his nightstand light turns on. Lying on his bed is Mary, and she's smiling a bit menacingly.

“Welcome home,” she laughs and Damien huffs out his brief moment of fear.

“You're killing me, Mary,” Damien groans, “you're killing your brother.”

Mary sits up and coos, beckoning Damien over. Damien does so reluctantly. He can't help it, really, and he crawls into the bed with her as she wraps her arms around him, petting his hair.

“You love me and I love you, hush now,” she says. “But, Damien, I swear to god. If you and Robert ever scare me like that again, I will hurt one of you.”

Both of them laugh at this. “I'm sorry, I just - I got distracted.”

“With Robert?” Mary asks. Damien doesn't dare admit to it. “What were you guys doing anyways? Why didn't either of you tell me you were hanging out? What _happened_ at the party?”

Damien shrugs. He pulls back and looks at her. “We talked, and he just...he asked me to hang out. We went and saw Schindler’s List at some dollar theater.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Mary goes.

“Oh?” Damien ponders. He looks at her quizzically.

“It's...nothing. Robert just - he just doesn't make friends this fast, I guess? I know I've only known him for a little longer than a year, but...he's - he just - never mind,” Mary says, shaking her head.

Damien doesn't _want_ to let it go though. What was Mary going to say and why doesn't she want him to know it? He wonders if tonight is going to be another night where his mind races and questions plague him until exhaustion finally sends him to sleep. He doesn't press her, though. All he does is give a little huff, and Mary smiles.

“It's okay. I guess I'm...glad. I don't have to struggle to get you two get along now,” she laughs. “They all love you, y’know.”

This brings slight comfort to Damien, knowing that the friends he's in the process of making don't secretly hate him. It's a hidden worry that burdens him no matter what, he thinks, just because it's what he's been accustomed to at certain times in his life. But the people's he’s met so far are great. He likes them and they actually like him too. It feels great.

“That's…great,” Damien tells her, but he's shortly interrupted by a yawn. He hadn’t realized his dreariness until then, and his eyelids suddenly feel a lot heavier.

“Alright, I'll stop boring you,” Mary laughs. “Go get your binder off and hit the hay, Dames.”

Damien doesn't protest. He leaves Mary to sit there while he goes to change into his nightclothes. Giving himself a once over in the mirror, he sighs. But, as he recollects the memories from just hours ago, a smile finds its way onto his lips. He thinks of Robert and what Mary said about him and his friend-making habits. For whatever reason, he feels...a little lucky. Grateful. Happy.

As he goes to finally lie down, Damien returns to find that Mary has fallen asleep on his bed, and he melts a little. She must have really been worried, probably running everywhere to make sure he was okay and somewhere safe. The gratefulness in his heart swells, and the worries that were once gnawing at his mind are no longer there. He takes back the night for himself, for his happy recollections.

The bed is inviting as he crawls in next to Mary, whose arms instinctively wrap around Damien the moment he's next to her. The comfort that swarms his body is unlike any other.

Amongst his upcoming classes, his evergrowing and _confusing_ “feelings” for Robert, and just general uncertainties of the upcoming months, this is exactly what he needs. This is how Mary always used to help him calm down when they were kids; she'd cuddle him and everything would feel okay because Damien knew that, if he had no one else, he'd have Mary.

Even with things going seemingly well, he isn't going to deny this.

Sleep begins to cast over his body, starting at his toes and wiggling its way up to shut down his mind.

But, before it can get there, Damien’s phone buzzes on his nightstand. He reaches for it, peering with one eye until he sees just what the notification is.

On the screen is a text from Robert ( _Roberttttt_ , as Damien saved his contact name).

_just got home. thanks for coming out...niiiiiiiiight zzzZzzZ_

Damien melts. He absolutely melts.

He doesn't have the energy to reply, but as he finally gets to sleep, it is most certainly with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope this sufficed!!! comments/kudos and likes/reblogs on tumblr are very much appreciated and encouraging :D
> 
> of course you can find me on tumblr at smalllmarch.tumblr.com!
> 
> thanks for reading and until next time :-)

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!!!
> 
> some things to clarify:  
> -joseph isn't a demon in this one, i plan for him and mary to have a good and wholesome relationship (sorry if this is a spoiler LOL)  
> -damien IS trans in this fic, he is just starting his transition (assumed to be on t from his junior yr in hs) and while i am nonbinary i am not trans in this sense of the meaning, so if anyone has any concerns about the way i write damien and his experiences, please kindly let me know!!!!!!! 
> 
> i'm sorry if the first couple of chapters are slow!!! lots of that sweet sweet ~character introduction~ but we know all the dads!!! these are just......college dads that arent really dads. hopefully it isn't too boring. let me know if i should continue!!!!!!!! comments constructive criticism and kudos much appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> again, thank you!!! im rrobertsmall.tumblr.com and also smalllmarch.tumblr.com (sideblog)
> 
> come say hi!
> 
> see you nxt chapterrrrrrrrrr


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